by Magan Vernon
“Yeah and maybe my lawyer can get me a two-for-one on a divorce and sentencing.” I crouched down, petting Snogs’ stomach instead of focusing on what I knew was my glaring sister behind me.
“I thought you were really starting to like her. I mean, after Christmas and her meeting Mom.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I did too, but I have a tendency to fuck things up when they’re going well.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why? It’s true,” I spat. “Look at the Army. The best thing that happened to me, and what did I do? Got in a wreck on the road I’d driven a million times right after I enlisted again. Planned to even get my degree while I finished another tour. Another guy had it all set for me to sign up for online courses. But what did I do? My crazy ass got in the way. Just like last night, toking up with a busboy.”
Brooke sat down on the other side of Snogs. “I didn’t know that. I mean I did about the busboy since Officer Jenkins is an asshole. But not about college.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t tell anyone because I knew I’d find a way for it not to happen even though I wanted it so badly. I just have a tendency to screw things up.”
“You’re not the only one who’s screwed up more than once, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it and come back,” she whispered, running her fingers along Snogs’ ears.
“Talking about me, or you and Eddie, or what now?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Take it however you want. I’m just saying that I don’t think you should throw it all away. Yeah, maybe it’s going to be hard for you to keep your job at the ranch now, but you gotta own up to it.”
She stood, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you really do love this girl and don’t want to keep fucking up, you’ll listen to me and tell her how you feel. If she feels the same way, like I know she does, then you two will work it out.”
“And if neither of us do?” I asked.
“Then maybe you’re just as stupid as you’ve been trying to tell me you aren’t.”
I WANTED TO SPEND THE day drowning myself in booze and grass.
But after just having my sister post bail for me, that wasn’t the best plan.
Instead, I pulled out the marriage certificate that had been buried in the bottom of my suitcase since Vegas.
I’d been running from my troubles and screwing things up for so long, I didn’t even know how to make them right anymore.
Which was why I was probably even crazier for walking up to Christy’s parents’ house on New Year’s Day with that paper in my hand and ringing her doorbell.
I thought maybe some kind of maid would answer, or even Christy if she saw me coming, but instead, I came face-to-face with the steely-eyed matriarch of the Quinn family.
“Clay, out of jail I see,” Tomiko said with a snarl.
“Yes, ma’am, are your husband and Christy home? I’d like to try to explain myself,” I said, licking my lips to regain some moisture.
“My husband and daughter?” she repeated.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, trying not to stutter my words.
“That Clay I hear? Tell him I’ve been expecting him,” Mr. Quinn boomed from somewhere behind Tomiko, causing her eyes to narrow to tiny slits.
She opened the door to a grand foyer with an antler chandelier and Lonestar engraved in the middle of the wood floor. She just motioned me with a flick of her hand, and I walked ahead to a large living room with a stone fireplace, a bunch of animal heads on the wall, and Christy and her dad sitting on large leather sectionals.
Christy’s eyes were downcast, dark circles around them and her hands folded on her lap.
Her dad sat there, larger than life as always, with his Stetson Stallion hat proudly on his head and dressed down in a flannel shirt and jeans, his big bear paws on his knees. “Have a seat, son.”
I took a seat on the sectional opposite Christy, willing her eyes to meet mine, but she wouldn’t budge.
“So last night was quite a surprise for me, though I think that jackass Jenkins has been looking to find a reason to get me in trouble ever since he got on ten years ago,” he said, pulling a Skol can out of his back pocket and taking a nip.
“Sir, I can explain,” I started, though I had no idea how I would even try to come up with an excuse.
“So, imagine my surprise,” he spoke over me, raising his voice, “when my youngest daughter came crying to tell me her husband was getting taken away in a cop car.”
Every hair on my body stood on end as I finally met Christy’s bleary-eyed gaze. “You told him?” I whispered.
She nodded.
“Sir ... that’s another one ... I can ...”
He put his hand up. “Hey, I know things can happen in Vegas. Hell, that’s where Tomiko and I got married, though, she likes to pretend the ceremony we had here a year later with Julie in her belly was the real ceremony.”
“Jack,” Tomiko barked, and I looked over my shoulder to see the dragon lady approaching before taking a seat next to her husband.
He laughed. “Come on, now, Clay’s family, no harm letting him in on the family secrets.”
“A family delinquent,” she muttered.
Jack pursed his lips. “Now I seem to remember someone else in this family getting caught on more than one occasion with substances that aren’t legal in the US, or purchased from Mexican pharmacies, but was able to pay her way out of it.”
Tomiko glared, then looked the other way with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest.
Jack turned his attention back to me. “Now I’m assuming that letter you got is either your resignation or some kind of legal paperwork. I guess since you’re my son-in-law with no prenup, I can’t exactly fire you or you may fight me for the ranch. So, I guess we’d better get this little legal thing expunged. I’ll call my buddy in the DA’s office, but you’re gonna owe me a big one, son.”
“Um, actually, this is the marriage license ... I was going to bring this to my lawyer,” I said, holding it out with shaky hands.
Jack snapped it up. Pulling a pair of reading glasses out of his front pocket, he looked over the document.
Tomiko glanced over his shoulder, then Jack tilted his head back, letting out a loud whoop and slapping his hand on his knee.
Christy and I stared at each other with raised eyebrows.
Tomiko smacked his arm. “What? What’s so funny?”
He let out a deep breath. “Hell, I thought you two were smarter than this, but Vegas must have done a number on ya.”
“What are you talking about, Dad?” Christy finally asked.
He held out the paper, pointing a sausage finger at the small writing at the bottom. “Right here it says this is not a legal document and for display purposes only. A legal document needs to be notarized and sent to the county courthouse. Hell, there isn’t a single note of legalese on here. Is this all you have?”
I nodded, recognition dawning on me.
We never filed for a marriage license.
When would we if this was the middle of the night?
Well, or early morning.
We weren’t married.
All this trouble ...
My chest tightened.
I’d fucked up on so many things lately, and now I’d realized that one of them maybe wasn’t such a big fuckup. Yet the pain of knowing we weren’t together was more than the one of being arrested.
“You two may have some talking to do, then we can discuss what we’re gonna do about your legal team and getting this taken off your record before you start the general manager position,” Jack said, slowly getting off the couch.
“General manager? But ...” I sputtered, trying to think of the right words.
He shook his head, taking my hand and patting it. “You don’t worry about that right now. You have some talking to do with my daughter first, then we can have a discussion.”
He looked back at his wife. “Come on, Tomi. It ain’t too early for an Irish coffee.”
I thought she would bark back at him, but for the first time, the woman nodded and followed him out of the room, leaving just the two of us in silence.
“So,” I finally said, touching the pad of my fingertips together.
“I can’t believe this.” Christy shook her head.
“I can’t either.”
We were silent for another few beats before I finally stood, knowing this was my time to man up. I might have been a fuckup all my life, but it was time I did some right.
“Christy ...” I started and made my way over to the couch next to her. “I know I fucked up. I know I always fuck up. If I had just followed you into the Vegas courthouse that day instead of using some bullshit excuse about the ranch, we would have never been in this situation. Hell, maybe I wouldn’t have even been stupid and nervous enough to take a few hits with Jorge.”
“You were nervous?” she asked quietly.
“Hell yeah, I was. I would have to show off who I thought was my wife to my buddies from high school. The guys who never thought I’d amount to anything would see that I was with the most beautiful girl in the world. Not only beautiful, but smart as hell, caring, and goddamn ...” I whispered, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I love you, Christy. Maybe this is coming too late, and maybe I’m crazy for saying it, but I do. I still want to be with you. Maybe not crazy enough that I want to head back down to Vegas and get this marriage done for real, but I want to be with you. Can you still be with me? Even though I’m crazy?”
She smiled, looking up at me with her bleary eyes again. Shit, was I going to make her cry? Was this the beginning of a breakup?
“Of course, I still want to be with you and love you, you crazy ass. I’m surprised it took you this long to say it.”
“Really?” I couldn’t contain the grin that spread across my face as I moved closer, wrapping my arms around her waist and relishing in the feel of her body pressed to mine.
“You’re my unicorn, Clay. In this world of everything crazy, you’re the one who stands out. The one who makes me a better me. The one who I can be myself around. The one I love.”
Even with so much left to be said and discussed, I pushed it to the back of my mind and just did what I wanted to. I kissed her, letting my emotion and everything I had left go into my lips.
We might not have been perfect. Hell, far from it. We had a long road ahead of us and a future to figure out.
But we were going to do it. Together.
Epilogue
Christy
Valentine’s Day was a holiday I usually avoided.
Mainly because Clay was my first real boyfriend. The guy who I accompanied to his court date because nothing said romance like watching a judge dismiss your boyfriend of his charges and walking out of the courthouse holding his hand with our fists held high.
“I have a gift for you, by the way. Just a little Valentine’s thing,” I muttered, turning toward him as we stopped at the bottom of the long cement steps.
“I thought we weren’t going to get each other anything,” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“You’re going to tell me you don’t have some kind of unicorn jewelry in your suit pocket right now?”
He laughed, pulling a small box out of his coat pocket. “Okay, you caught me.”
I smiled, pulling the envelope out of my purse.
“Christy ...” His face grew serious staring at the Q Ranch manila envelope.
I shook my head. “This isn’t some kind of weird settlement paperwork, I promise. This was just the biggest thing I could find to fit your gift.”
We exchanged our gifts, and I opened the box, laughing as I clasped on the charm bracelet complete with a unicorn, cowboy boot, and a little Mohawked man. “More internet ads?”
His hands shook, staring down at the envelope before he slowly tore it open, scanning the stacks of paper.
“Application for Clay Walker Carrington to University of North Texas School of Business?” He raised his eyebrows, peering at me over the papers.
I pushed down the stack, smiling up at him. “Mine’s in there too. For public relations. I figure it’s time I finish my degree, and if you really do want to take over the ranch from my dad, it’s time you use that Army bill for something.”
“But ...”
I shook my head, stopping any excuse he had. “You can say that you think you’ll fuck this up, and believe me, I’m thinking the same thing, but me being the one to screw us up. So, if we work together and keep each other’s crazy asses in check, who’s to say we can’t both walk out of there with diplomas and maybe head the Q Ranch?”
A grin finally spread across his face as he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his body against mine. “Did I ever tell you that I love you like crazy?”
I smiled against his awaiting lips. “Every day.”
About The Author
Magan Vernon has been living off of reader tears since she wrote her first short story in 2004. She now spends her time killing off fictional characters, pretending to plot while she really just watches Netflix, and she tries to do this all while her two young children run amok around her Texas ranch.
Website: www.maganvernon.com
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/maganvernon
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/authormaganvernon
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maganvee/
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who has stuck by me and still continued to read my books. Even when I say I'm going to finish a series in a year then WHOOPS take a traditional deal and start writing Irish brothers.
Clay and Christy’s romance has been a long time in the making, and I hope I did it justice for all of you.
My cover designer, Kassi Snider, thank you for capturing the perfectness of Clay and Christy and their crazy (even though you had to crop out Christy giving the finger).
My betas Emersyn and Kristen, thank you for loving these characters as much as I do and keep rooting them on.
My editor, Jenny, for not giving up on me and working into the middle of the night to finish this crazy girl’s book.
My publicist, Emily with Social Butterfly PR, for loving this story as much as I do and pushing it forward.
For my reader group, #FEELTHEVERN, for pushing me forward even those days I wanted to put this book down.
For Audioboy productions, for working on the audio when I wasn’t even sure I’d have a final book done!
My agent Stephanie, for always cheering me on even when I don’t want to work.
Everyone who worked on the movie Black Panther, and for getting that movie out in time so I could put it on DVD for both of my kids to watch while Mommy had to finish this book.
Twothy, for putting up with my crazy all of these years and still loving me.
